Should beer be banned at college football games?

June 06, 2011|Rick Kazmer | Daily American Debate

Yes

Inebriation and civility do not go hand in hand.

But West Virginia University athletics director Oliver Luck seems to think that beer sales at football games will make the experience “safer, friendlier and more civil,” according to an interview with The Associated Press.

The school’s board of governors approved booze sales last week.

Binge drinking in college is nothing new. And students will find a way to shotgun beers in the parking lot no matter what rules are made. West Virginia officials recognize the problem. Now they have endorsed it and stand to make a profit from drinking at a college-sponsored event. The university could earn up to $1.2 million a season from beer sales. Thirty-six other NCAA Division I schools sell booze at games, according to The Associated Press.

West Virginia will impose limitations on how much beer people can buy, where it is sold and how long it is available. Maybe that’s how excited football fans become intoxicated civilly at Mountaineers games.

But in truth, this will do nothing to stop alcohol-fueled bad behavior before kickoff — even though beer will only be sold in plastic bottles by polite people in designated areas.

West Virginia officials can put as much lipstick on this pig as they want. But the school is going to make money on beer sales, which is at best hypocritical.